HRD RADIO REPORT
The HRD Radio Report showcases the weekly Active Rock Mediabase Charts (compiled by AllAccess.com), and appears every Tuesday on HardRockDaddy.com. The HRD Radio Report digs deeper into the weekly Active Rock charts, providing commentary, reviews, recommendations and predictions. It also features opinion pieces on chart action and the music business in general.
Many of the artists featured on the Active Rock charts have already been reviewed on HardRockDaddy.com.
Click on the hyperlinked song titles to read song reviews, and the hyperlinked artist names to read album reviews.
The following is the Active Rock Mediabase Chart for the week ending 1/16/16. All exclusive HRD content is featured below the chart:
TOP 50 ACTIVE ROCK SONGS (by spins) OF 2015
TOP 30 OCTANE BIG ‘UNS COUNTDOWN SONGS OF 2015
| CHART | CHART | ARTIST | SONG TITLE | RADIO |
| POSITION | POSITION | SPINS | ||
| THIS WEEK | LAST WEEK | THIS WEEK | ||
| 1 | 2 | FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH | “Wash It Away” | 2109 |
| 2 | 1 | DISTURBED | “The Light” | 1964 |
| 3 | 3 | SHINEDOWN | “State Of My Head” | 1797 |
| 4 | 5 | SEETHER | “Save Today” | 1411 |
| 5 | 4 | HALESTORM | “I Am The Fire” | 1302 |
| 6 | 8 | POP EVIL | “Ways To Get High” | 1255 |
| 7 | 7 | THREE DAYS GRACE | “Fallen Angel” | 1187 |
| 8 | 9 | FOO FIGHTERS | “Saint Cecilia” | 1055 |
| 9 | 10 | NOTHING MORE | “Here’s To The Heartache” | 1028 |
| 10 | 6 | GHOST | “Cirice” | 981 |
| 11 | 11 | HIGHLY SUSPECT | “Bloodfeather” | 930 |
| 12 | 13 | TRIVIUM | “Until The World Goes Cold” | 812 |
| 13 | 12 | THEORY OF A DEADMAN | “Blow” | 807 |
| 14 | 16 | MUSE | “Reapers” | 727 |
| 15 | 14 | CAGE THE ELEPHANT | “Mess Around” | 648 |
| 16 | 19 | SAINT ASONIA | “Let Me Live My Life” | 546 |
| 17 | 17 | PARKWAY DRIVE | “Vice Grip” | 531 |
| 18 | 18 | ARANDA | “We Are The Enemy” | 506 |
| 19 | 20 | FROM ASHES TO NEW | “Through It All” | 454 |
| 20 | 28 | BRING ME THE HORIZON | “Happy Song” | 444 |
| 21 | 23 | SHAMAN’S HARVEST | “In Chains” | 431 |
| 22 | 21 | ALL THAT REMAINS | “Victory Lap” | 421 |
| 23 | 22 | IN THIS MOMENT | “Big Bad Wolf” | 385 |
| 24 | 26 | ESCAPE THE FATE | “Alive” | 329 |
| 25 | 25 | THE STRUTS | “Kiss This” | 322 |
| 26 | 38 | RED SUN RISING | “Emotionless” | 308 |
| 27 | 42 | PAPA ROACH | “Falling Apart” | 300 |
| 28 | 24 | NATHANIEL RATELIFF / NIGHTSWEATS | “S.O.B.” | 277 |
| 29 | 33 | FAILURE ANTHEM | “Paralyzed” | 255 |
| 30 | 27 | WILSON | “Right To Rise” | 237 |
| 31 | 29 | STITCHED UP HEART | “Finally Free” | 230 |
| 32 | 41 | ADELITA’S WAY | “Bad Reputation” | 224 |
| 33 | 30 | TRANS SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA | “Forget About The Blame” | 219 |
| 34 | 37 | TYLER BRYANT & THE SHAKEDOWN | “Loaded Dice & Buried Money” | 208 |
| 35 | 32 | TURBOWOLF | “Rabbits Foot” | 203 |
| 36 | 36 | DROWNING POOL | “By The Blood” | 198 |
| 37 | 40 | LACEY STURM | “Impossible” | 193 |
| 38 | 34 | ANDREW WATT | “Ghost In My Head” | 192 |
| 39 | 44 | SLIPKNOT | “Goodbye” | 186 |
| 40 | 31 | ATREYU | “Do You Know Who You Are” | 168 |
| 41 | 35 | TWENTY ONE PILOTS | “Stressed Out” | 156 |
| 42 | 45 | PUSCIFIER | “The Remedy” | 129 |
| 43 | 46 | STONE SOUR (f. LZZY HALE) | “Gimme Shelter” | 121 |
| 44 | 0 | 3 DOORS DOWN | “In The Dark” | 119 |
| 45 | 43 | GODSMACK | “Inside Yourself” | 113 |
| 46 | 50 | DISTURBED | “The Sound Of Silence” | 110 |
| 47 | 47 | BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE | “Venom” | 108 |
| 48 | 48 | WAYLAND | “Bloody Sunrise” | 107 |
| 49 | 49 | I PREVAIL | “Crossroads” | 91 |
| 50 | 51 | BARONESS | “Shock Me” | 87 |
PUBLISHER’S PICK OF THE WEEK (by Adam Waldman)
BOBAFLEX – “A Spider In The Dark”
Following up the anthemic “Mama Don’t Take My Drugs Away” – the lead single from Anything That Moves – Bobaflex returns with “A Spider In The Dark.” Fans of the band have come to expect the outstanding vocal chemistry between the McCoy brothers (Marty and Shaun), but this time around, the band mixes it up to showcase the equally-talented vocal prowess of guitarist Dave Tipple, who combines with Marty to deliver chilling harmonies over an acoustic intro. Bobaflex is one of the more creative artists around today, especially when it comes to making videos. Watch this video to see how truly appropriate it is to use the word “chilling” to describe this song. The intensity slowly builds until the rest of the band kicks in with a powerful, driving rhythm that is like a shot of adrenaline, featuring Bobaflex’s signature phrasing (which is truly unique, and sets them apart from their fellow hard rock brethren). Whereas many bands today accentuate angst with growls, Bobaflex achieves the same effect with melodic gang vocals and harmonies. The band’s sound continues to evolve, to the point where even their breaks have a great deal of musicality. Saying that this is one of the best songs of the year would hold more weight if we weren’t still in January, but I have a feeling that this one is going to have staying power that lasts well into the year.
HRD SPIN CONTROL (by Adam Waldman and Jon Loveless)
Each week, we will share the songs that we think should be added to rotations, alongside the songs that we feel should be dropped from rotations, either because they are a bad fit for the format, or because they have run their course and it’s time for a new single from the artist.
SPIN IT…
BOBAFLEX – “A Spider In The Dark”
SMASHING SATELLITES – “Gamblin Man”
MEGADETH – “Dystopia”
CILVER – “I’m America”
UGLY KID JOE – “She’s Already Gone”
SEPTEMBER MOURNING – “Eye Of The Storm”
ADAKAIN – “Hey Girl”
DROP IT…
Twenty One Pilots – “Stressed Out”
Nate Rateliff & The Nightsweats – “S.O.B.”
Cage The Elephant – “Mess Around”
Ghost – “Cirice”
The Struts – “Kiss This”
In This Moment – “Big Bad Wolf”
Trans-Siberian Orchestra – “Forget About The Blame”
THE BREAKDOWN by Jon Loveless
KING OF THE HILL
After more than a month as the bridesmaid, Five Finger Death Punch now sits at the top of the Mediabase Active Rock airplay chart. “Wash It All Away” essentially maintained its airplay while Disturbed saw a significant decline in spins for “The Light” and slid back to #2. Shinedown remains at #3 for a fifth straight week, but appears well-positioned for an eventual stint at the top of the chart with “State Of My Head.”
NOTABLE CHART MOVEMENT
No new entries into the Top 10 this week, but that’s likely to change a week from now, as several songs look to be starting their descent from the top…
Bring Me The Horizon reaches the Top 20 with “Happy Song” on a big jump in both chart positions and total spins…
New to the Top 30 this week a trio of disparate acts – last year’s breakout artist…Red Sun Rising, perennial format favorites…Papa Roach and newcomers…Failure Anthem …
Arriving in the Top 40 this week, is the latest single from Adelita’s Way (which showed nice growth) and Slipknot’s latest (“Goodbye”), which is quietly picking up steam …
Two new songs make their Top 50 debut, including the lead single from the forthcoming Three Doors Down album (which will be their first full studio project in nearly five years).
THREE UP & THREE DOWN
MOVING UP
Pop Evil – “Ways To Get High”
Bring Me The Horizon – “Happy Song”
Papa Roach – “Falling Apart”
DROPPING DOWN
Disturbed – “The Light”
Halestorm – “Become The Enemy”
Ghost – “Cirice”
FUTURES REPORT
It appears that the holiday lull is coming to an end, with a number of significantly aged songs starting to slide. While there are songs that certainly start out slow and take longer to pick up broad support, it’s really difficult to for me to believe that there is ANY song that needs to have a six-month stay in the Top 50 as a “current.” Given how much play remains for many songs in their next stage as a “recurrent” (the term for songs that recently exited the charts but keep getting spins for familiarity purposes), it’s hard not to feel a little bit sorry for listeners who spend entire days with a particular station. I can promise those folks that there really are a lot more quality songs than you’re allowed to hear. There’s so much radio-quality material in the marketplace right now that it strikes me as downright unconscionable to be as stingy with spins and adds as many stations are. I understand the mathematics of song rotation quite well, but there is a sore need in the format for more aggressive and inventive decision-makers. Sadly, I’m not going to hold my breath for them to appear.
WRAP-UP
That’s all for this week. Tune in to HardRockDaddy.com every Tuesday for the HRD Radio Report. \m/
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